Christmas Vacay & Crossfit

For the first time in years, I decided to take the week of Christmas off from work so I could go back to the Midwest for a nice holiday with the family. Not only was I excited for the time off of work and a relaxing vacay in Wisconsin, I was also excited to drop into a few new boxes. Each box was roughly 2 hours away from where I was staying in Oshkosh, but both boxes are special to me in that I am personal friends with the owners.

Thursday, Dec 22nd: OLY at Crossfit Connex in Madison, WI (Box #55)

I first met Emily over a year ago when she dropped in to workout at the new box that I had just joined, Lincoln Park Crossfit, in Chicago. Six months later, we both happened to be in Columbus, OH for our Level 1s at the same time. After passing her Level 1, Emily moved up to Madison and opened Crossfit Connex. It was an open/rest/make up day so I was able to do my OLY workout from Invictus.

When Emily asked me what box number this was for me and I told her #55, she replied with "You should start a blog!"....in which I mumbled something back about how I've had one for a while now, I'm just too busy/lazy to ever update it :)





Friday, Dec 23rd: Heavy and Hard at Badger Crossfit

I met Tyler, the owner of Badger Crossfit in Wauwautosa, WI, during one of my visits to Crossfit Green Bay last Christmas Eve. From there, we kept in contact on Facebook and then later on Twitter; I was super proud to follow his progress during the Central Regionals during the Open last year. Seeing that I am a big WI Badgers fan, I definitely had to drop in and check out Tyler's new box.





I also stopped in for my annual Christmas visit to Crossfit Green Bay but sadly, I don't have any pictures from that trip.

Whole9 on Travel

Wow, has it really been 3.5 months since my last blog post?! In my defense, I haven't been blog-lazy....I've just been stupid-busy! Full time work while striding to get all As in full time school classes plus training 10+ hours a week and getting 8 hours of sleep a night has left me with almost no free time. :-/

But, finals are over, I don't have school again for 6 weeks, so here I am!

My new challenge this week? Whole9 while on travel. Today is Day um....11?....on a Whole9 diet. This is pretty major for me as I never make it past days 3 or 5. I always give in to my sweet cravings and bulk. Meh. And why am I not calling it Whole30? Well, technically this round is Whole27; the day after Thanksgiving until 12/21 when I fly to Wisconsin for a week to spending Christmas with the family, where I do plan to indulge and be merry.

If you've read my blog in the past, you know that I'm not stranger to travel and paleo. I've even guest blogged about it (read it here). I'm pretty good with hitting up grocery stores or just making do with what I can find. However, you can't really do Whole9 and "make do", so tonight when I land in Dallas, I'm hitting up the Sprouts Farmers Market (lucky me!) that is within 10 minutes of my hotel.

What's on my list? Well, I was able to secure a hotel room with a microwave and refrigerator and I'm bringing one container of tupperware in my luggage, so the list will contain....

- Packets of Tuna
- Whole9 approved Smoked Salmon
- Packets of Almond Butter
- Avocados, Sweet Potatoes...veggies that can be steamed....
- Coffee and Coconut Milk
- Green Tea packets
- Already cooked chicken/meats from the deli

It's all about planning. My main concern is lunch and afternoon snack; I usually fast in the mornings with tea and coffee, so I just need to make sure I bring plenty of healthy, approved options with me to the customer site.

We'll see how this week goes. Usually I lose weight on travel since when I'm not on travel, I am working from home, just a few steps away from my kitchen......

Let's Get Visual!

I know that a large part of the human population is made up of 'Visual' people. I'm usually not that type of person; I just need some kind of concrete goal (such as an upcoming competition) and alittle peer support and I'm good to go.

However, lately on Twitter, all I've been hearing about is "Dream Boards" and "Visual Boards" and "Dream Books" (like scrapbooks). As I was cleaning out my closet the other day, I looked up at the big empty wall behind my bed. I really haven't done much with my room since moving here four months ago because I may be moving to a new neighborhood soon, so why bother? Everything is currently pretty plain in my room.

Well, I may not be a fully visual person, but when I see an empty canvas, I see lots of opportunity. (Have you seen my full back tattoo?! Enough said) So I hightailed it to Target this past weekend and bought some corkboard tiles for my wall. Observe....



I decided on the tiles instead of a board so I can add and organize and rearrange as necessary. I know, it's pretty empty as of now; I'm still trying to figure out how this thing works! :)

While I was at Target, I ran across a sticker sale. Who doesn't like stickers?! Some of the coaches at Crossfit Invictus have even given out stickers after MetCons....what can I say, we're a fun bunch! Anyways, I picked up some nice shiny star stickers for only a $1, and here is what I'm using them for:



Between all of my travels, Crossfit events/competitions, and personal appointments, the only way to keep everything straight sometimes is by using a big ol' wall calendar. So now, at the end of the day, I have started awarding myself with stickers if I had a personal excellent day.

What does that mean, exactly? Well, at first I was going to do it only if my diet was spot-on for the day. But then I decided to expand that to include days where my diet might not be 100% the best, but I did accomplish other things such as PR on a lift, spent some time meditating or reflecting and making great decisions for my future, or setting time aside to do some personal writing.

The stars are a great visual aide for me, to set a goal to see how many days I can get in a row. Every time I think about cheating or making a decision that isn't the best for me, I think about how badly I want to put the star on the calendar at the end of the day, and it has thus far kept me on track.

How do you stay motivated? I'd love to hear other ideas!

Mmmmmmm....Paleo Meatloaf!

While visiting my girl Heather in Seattle last weekend, she introduced me to a meatloaf recipe so yummy, that I had to make it first thing when I got home on Monday. Since I was, of course, bragging about it on Twitter, it has been requested many times that I post the recipe. So here ya go! This is one of my favorite types of dishes - inexpensive, easy prep, paleo, and can be cooked in your crockpot, which also means it makes enough for 3-4 days worth of meals.

For this recipe, I chose to use 1 pound of ground turkey and 1 pound of ground grass fed beef. Heather told me that the original recipe called for ground pork and ground grass fed beef; either way, you can use whatever type(s) of ground meat that you want.

Turn your Crockpot on low and throw in a big can of diced tomatoes. Dice/chop up your choice of 'stew' veggies and mix them in with the diced tomatoes. For this particular batch, I chose carrots.

Using my Ninja, I pureed spinach, onions and red bell pepper. I combined those in a bowl with 1/3 cup of coconut flour and an egg, and then mixed everything together with a hand beater.



After that mix is blended well, I added in 2lbs Ground Meat of choice and continued to blend with the hand mixer. Shape the mixture into a football and place on top of the stew mix in the crock pot. If you desire - and you should - wrap that baby in bacon and then cover for 5 hours.



Sooooo yummy! Enjoy.

No-Oats-Meal!

It's time for another recipe! Always my go-to blog item for when I'm not feeling very inspired and don't want to waste your time with fluff.

Thanks to my Chicago girl Jenni (@TinyDancer06) for sharing this link with me.

As I'm always saying, I don't really miss gluten or wheat; it's always sugar. I don't miss pizza or bagels or sandwiches....but I do miss oatmeal. This recipe is a good substitute for when you need that comfort food. Depending on how big your 'handful' of nuts is, this recipe actually makes 2-3 servings for me. I've recently cut out fruit so I've subbed canned pumpkin for the banana and it has worked out great! I was also excited to test out my new Ninja food processor.

No Oat Oatmeal....No-atmeal!

1 small handful of walnuts
1 small handful of pecans
2 tablespoons ground flax seed
1/2 – 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 pinch of ground nutmeg
1 pinch ground ginger
1 tablespoon almond butter
1 banana, mashed
3 eggs
1/4 cup unsweetened almond milk (add more if you prefer it a little runny)
2 teaspoons pumpkin seeds for topping
1 handful of goji berries or fresh berries for topping



Directions:

Add walnuts, pecans, flax seed and spices to a food processor and pulse it down to a course grain, making sure to stop before it’s totally ground into a powder. Set aside.


Whisk together eggs and almond milk (Doug uses a Blender Bottle) until the consistency thickens a little bit into a loose custard. Thoroughly blend together the mashed banana and almond butter and add it to the custard, mixing well.


Stir in the nut mixture. Microwave or gently warm on the stove until the “no-atmeal” reaches your desired consistency; this should only take a few minutes. In both cases, stir the mixture frequently as it cooks.

Sprinkle pumpkin seeds and berries on top. Add more almond milk if you want. Lick the bowl clean!

My Community - Part One

Call it a good cult. Call it a bad cult. Call it whatever you want - but I call it a "Community". And that is only because I haven't found the right word for it yet, as I feel that 'Community' is an understatement at times.

I'm currently on my fourth straight week in Dallas; it has been 30+ degrees hotter here than in San Diego every single day, the travel back and forth is exhausting, and I miss my dog & my gym. However, I still consider myself one of the luckiest girls around. The Dallas Crossfit community has been more than welcoming, and everytime I drop into one of the boxes, I feel like I'm WODing with homies versus just being some visitor from out of town.

The first box that I got to visit when I first started this project was
Crossfit Strong (Twitter: @CrossfitStrong). I was invited to drop in by Jake, owner of Compete Every Day (Twitter: @CompeteEveryDay), who I had met recently on Twitter. I was pretty shell shocked by the heat, even at 630am, but I made it through the WOD plus got my hands on a sweet tank - the Tahiti Compete Every Day tank. I highly recommend you check out his line of shirts & tanks; I loved my Tahiti tank so much that I bought the same one as a gift for my P.I.C. back in San Diego.

During my second week in Dallas, I decided to drop into Crossfit Richardson to throw down with Mr. WODStack himself, Brandon (Twitter: @bgadoci).
Oh course, the WOD contained Double Unders, which I am horrible at right now so lets just say I did not represent Crossfit Invictus very well. Either way, I still had a great time & met some awesome people. Turns out, two of their box members were just in San Diego and paid a visit to Crossfit Invictus the week before.



I love both CF Strong and CF Richardson, but it was recommended that I also hit up Crossfit Dallas Central and meet up with Chase (Twitter: @CaptAmericaXFit). So that is exactly what I did for Week 3. The WOD was Diane, and I was super excited for it, despite the heat, as I've not had a chance to do this one yet. The 155# Deadlifts were cake but lets just say it was good practice for my HSPUs. Congrats to Crossfit Dallas Central for placing 13th at the Games last weekend!

This week should be my last week in Dallas for a while, and although I'll be happy to be home for a bit, I will miss my Dallas homies alot! (Just not the heat, ha!) Mike (The Common Sense Warrior Blog , Twitter: @TCSWarrior) was visiting the Dallas area for work as well and suggested that we drop in on Jake again at Crossfit Strong. Cesa and Jared from Fight Through (Twitter: @FightThrough) also
decided to join us for what would be the hottest WOD I've ever done. I was a bit excited to see that the WOD for yesterday was the 11.2 Sectionals WOD; Deadlifts and Push Ups are easy for me, but Box Jumps, not so much. But either way, I was hoping for a PR. Did I get it? Not so much, ha. I wanted to die. The temperature capped off at 111 degrees, and I'm just not built for heat. Either way, we all had a great time meeting each other, killing ourselves in the heat and the enjoying some paleo dinner afterwards.



Although all of my travels can be pretty cool at times, it does really make me miss home when I'm forced to be away from it for weeks on end. But being part of an awesome community and knowing some great people makes the world of difference and I'm very thankful for the Dallas Crossfit Community!

Never Shop When Hungry!

Everyone knows they should never shop when hungry. I made that mistake yesterday and this is what I ended up with - all for dinner!



Sure, it's all veggies, it's all healthy. But I bought this on a Saturday night and I'm flying to Dallas for another week on Monday - and I hate to waste. :-/ Looks like I'm packing up this following recipe with me to take with me on the plane tomorrow. It has been awhile since I've posted a recipe and I made one of my favorite dishes last night; it's easy, healthy and a perfect one to share!

I think one of the things I love the most about this recipe is that it can potentially make a crap ton of food to last you throughout the week.

"Pork Loin and Veggie Hash"

Pork Loin
Any Veggies you want
Seasonings

I like to rub the pork loin with olive oil and then sprinkle on curry powder, garlic powder, and smoked paprika. For the veggies, I like to cut up a nice variety of low, medium and high starchy veggies, throw them in a bowl and toss with olive oil, salt and pepper. Throw it all in a pan and roast on 375 for 35 minutes. Let the pork sit for 10 minutes before cutting into it. Easy, simple, fast, inexpensive.



Right now, I'm trying to cut all sugar from my diet and remain strict paleo without going down the low carb route. If I consume a 'sweeter' veggie during my meals, such as a bit of sweet potato, butternut squash, or carrots, then I find that my sugar craves aren't as bad throughout the day. Of course, I can't just nosh on those three veggies alone, as I don't want THAT many carbs. :) I try to ensure I mix up the hash with healthy greens, like collards, brussel sprouts and broccoli.

I recommend going to your farmers market and buying up any and all veggies that look appetitizing to you and then spending just one hour in the kitchen, cutting everything up and making a big bowl of this hash for the week. You'll find that it goes well with everything - any kind of meat or even with eggs for breakfast.

The law of the farm

I'm in Dallas this week, as some of you know, and I've been communicating with one of my coaches, George, who is also my nutrition guide, via email concerning my diet. I was telling him how hard it is to be patient, and how I'm worried I'll be a certain eating plan and then months down the line, we find that it was the wrong one and I have to start over and lose all the months of trying. He responded by quoting the following article.....it speaks volumes......

"This is an old message from a strength coach named Mike Boyle. Seems like a good time to share it...


I think I remember Stephen Covey in his book Seven Habits of Highly Effective People making reference to what I believe he called “the law of the farm.” The reference was meant to show that most of the truly good things in life take time and can’t be forced or rushed. Covey described the process of farming and alluded to how it requires patience and diligence to grow crops properly. In addition, farming requires belief in the system. The farmer must believe that all the hard work and preparation will eventually yield a long-term result.

As a strength and conditioning coach, business owner and personal trainer, the concept has always stuck with me. The process of exercising is much like farming or like planting a lawn. There are no immediate results from exercise and there are no immediate results from farming.

First, the seeds must be planted. Then fertilizer (nutrition) and water must be applied consistently. Much like fertilizer in farming, too much food can be a detriment to the exerciser. Only the correct amounts cause proper growth. Overfeeding can cause problems, as can underfeeding. As I sit and wait for my lawn to sprout or crops to grow, I feel many of the same frustrations of the new exerciser. When will I see results? How come nothing is happening? All this work and — nothing.

The key is to not quit. Have faith in the process. Continue to add water and wait. Farming and exercising are eerily similar. Continue to exercise and eat well and suddenly a friend or co-worker will say, “Have you lost weight”? Your reaction might be, “It’s about time someone noticed.” Much like the first blades of grass poking through the ground, you begin to see success. You begin to experience positive feedback. Clothes begin to fit differently.

When my friends or clients talk to me about their frustration with their initial lack of progress in an exercise program, I always bring up the farm analogy. We live in a world obsessed with quick fixes and instant results. This is why the farm analogy can be both informative and comforting.

An exercise program must be approached over a period of weeks and months, not days. The reality is that there is no quick fix, no easy way, no magic weight loss plan, no secret cellulite formula. There is only the law of the farm. You will reap what you sow. In reality, you will reap what you sow and care for. If you are consistent and diligent with both diet and exercise, you will eventually see results. However, remember, much like fertilizer and water, diet and exercise go together.

Try to grow crops or a lawn without water. No amount of effort will overcome the lack of vital nutrients.

The law of the farm.

Plant the seeds.

Feed and water properly.

Wait for results; they will happen, not in days, but in weeks and months.

To your success,

Mike Boyle
http://www.FunctionalStrengthCoach3.com
http://www.OnlineBodybyBoyle.com"

Tuesday's Progress

I personally do not like to write out my blogs each day with a list of food I ate and what my WODs/results are. Nothing against people who do that; whatever helps people stay accountable, more power to them. My food isn't that fantastic and I'm not busting out Josh Bridges and Katie Hogan like WOD results so I don't see the need in doing it on my blog every day.

However, this week will be somewhat different. Since starting a whole new training program last week, I wanted to track my progress between the weeks, plus stay accountable for with my Whole 30.

Le sigh....life again throws me a curve ball. I'm starting to really love this program and now, I'll be in Dallas on Mon thru Fri for atleast the next 3 weeks :( I'll get programming emailed to me from my coaches, but it's not the same. I'll miss the benefit of having them watch me and correct my form. Oh well. I'm lucky to be healthy and with a job, so I can't bitch too much.

Tuesday's WOD:

45 mins Prior to Rowing: Lots of stretching, plus 1 push up OTM every minute for 20 minutes.

5K Row at 530p: We did this on the first day of Row Club 6 weeks ago so this was a re-test. Totally sucked; it was hot and humid out today and I swear I lost 5lbs of sweat. Did it in 22:50 w/ a 2:17 split; last was 23:29 w/ a 2:20 split. Shane said that taking 2-3 seconds off your split is the norm so atleast I did that. Rowing a 5k is my least favorite thing to do in this world.

Deadlift at 630p: 3R x 5; 2 warm ups, 3 working. Last week I ended my 5R x 5 with 3R of 200lb; got really ugly on the 4th so stopped & didn’t count it. This week, I worked on my breathing and I used runner’s body glide on my quads. Ended up doing 123-155-175-200-210 (2). My 200 x 3 looked really good tonight; so much better than last week!! My 210 wasn’t so hot; but Calvin watched the whole time and pointed out my problem areas; my upper back is weak and my inner quad is weak. So I have some exercises now to strengthen those. But my improvement in breathing from the 200 last week to the 200 this week was night and day. Progress :)

Shoulder Press at 700p: 3R x 5; 35-50-60-70-75. Nothing exciting here. 75x3 is probably a PR as I’ve never really tested at this.

Although I had about 56 hours of rest between hiking on Sunday morning and working out on Tuesday night, I was super beat after this class. I made sure to drink some natural, no sugar added coconut water in between classes to replace my electrolytes, plus I did about 45 mins of stretching/rolling prior to row class. Watched Josh Bridges (BW ~160lbs) doing 375lb Deadlifts tonight; definitely motivating.

Meal 1: Leftover Broiled Salmon, Sauteed Zucchini in Coconut Oil
Meal 2: Sausage, 2 Eggs and Berries
Meal 3: Broiled Sea Bass w/ Salad (Spinach, Cherry Tomatoes, Olives, Bell Pepper, Strawberries and lots of Bean-o)
Meal 4: PostWOD: Chicken Breast, Chicken Thigh, Beets & BCAAs

No soreness today from last night; I thought I'd atleast be sore in the booty between all the rowing and Deadlifts. My back is a little tight but no worries there.

Today was a killer. It’s getting humid and hot, even at 7am, especially in the back of the gym!

7am Group Class:

15 AMRAP Testing Day
10 Hand Release Push Ups
15 Wall Balls (20/14)
20 KB Swings (24/16)

I got in 5 rds + 25. Push Ups were 5-7 each set, Wall Balls were 10/5 and KB swings unbroken. I was dripping sweat so bad. The average was 4-7 rounds. Rest the rest of the day until CFE at 630pm. Yes, 2 a day for 2 days in a row. But then just one a day for the next 2, then some rest!

Meal 1: Chicken Breast, Chicken Thigh, Beets & BCAAs (830am)
Meal 2: Leftover Broiled Sea Bass w/ steamed carrots (1130am)
Meal 3: 2 Eggs, 2 Bacon & Berries (4pm)
Meal 4: Steak w/ steamed broccoli & mushrooms (8pm)

And before you call me out, my bacon is Whole 30 approved :)

Strength and Fitness Goals

I realized yesterday that I spend hours each week talking about, thinking about and planning for all of my nutritional goals. And yes, I know all of this thinking-talking-planning is important, but I feel like I have been neglecting any strength and fitness goals as well. I do keep up with going to all of my scheduled Crossfit classes, but except for a few ideas that randomly float around in my head, I haven't actually set any goals lately.

So yesterday while I was sitting on my couch, lost in the awesomeness that is Game of Thrones, I decided to grab one of my many log books and right out, on the first page, all of my Strength and Fitness goals.

Without further adieu, here they are:

5 Pull Ups - 7 Pull Ups - 10 Pull Ups
1 Dip - 3 Dips - 5 Dips
215 Back Squat - 225 Back Squat
275 Deadlift - 300 Deadlift
BW Bench Press
1 Muscle Up
15 Push Ups - 20 Push Ups - 25 Push Ups
1 HSPU - 3 HSPUs - 5 HSPUs
15 DUs - 20 DUs - 30 DUs - 50 DUs
8:30 minute Mile
Whole 30

My current Back Squat is 200, Bench Press is 130, and Deadlift at 255. I'm pretty sure I can get the 1 Dip, the 5 Pull Ups and maybe the 15 Push Ups now, but I need to retest this. And of course, the format is, once I get the first goal, I move on to the second...ie...once I get 5 Pull Ups down, then my next Pull Up goal is 7, etc.

My Whole 30 started yesterday, with the stipulation that I am allowed 1 packet of Stevia a day in my morning coffee. It's that, or no Whole 30. But you know, I don't feel bad; this is my diet, so I need to do with it what I need to do for me and no one else.

I've had a couple of people offer me suggestions on some training tips to get me to these goals as fast I can; I will post future blogs on some of the training methods that I am doing and any results.

Look at those buns!

The question I always ask people when they say they are on the paleo diet is what do they miss the most? The answers are pretty split up; half the people miss the sugar (such as myself) and half the people miss the grains. I could easily go the rest of my life without eating rice, grain, pasta or white potatoes ever again and it will never be a problem. But I'm not gonna lie - I don't get the same satisification when eating a burger with a knife and fork. Sure, I could always go the In-N-Out "Protein Style" route (burger wrapped in lettuce) but still, it's just not the same.

As I was scrolling around Jen's Gone Paleo's blog, one of my favorite stops for tried and true paleo recipes, I found her recipe for Paleo "Sliders", including buns. The ingredients looked simple enough; I already had all of them minus the arrowroot powder so I decided to give it a try. Again, I don't really miss bread that much, and if this recipe had a) complicated ingredients that cost a fortune and/or b) was complicated to make, I wouldn't have given it the time of day.

But I'm super glad I did. You can find her recipe here: Paleo "Sliders", and below, with my notes of modifications.

Paleo "Slider" Buns:
3/4 Cup Coconut Flour
2T. Arrowroot Powder
1/2 tsp. Baking Soda
1/2 tsp. Sea Salt
6 Eggs, beaten
1T. Braggs Raw Apple Cider Vinegar
1/2 Cup Melted Ghee (if you don't do ghee, try coconut oil...but, know that I haven't tried it, so don't know how it will work)

For topping:
1 Egg, whisked
1 T. Sesame Seeds

Preheat oven to 325F.
- Sift coconut flour, arrowroot powder, baking soda, and sea salt into a bowl.
- Add beaten eggs and mix to combine.
- Add melted ghee and vinegar, mix until smooth.
- Scoop batter onto a silpat or parchment paper- lined baking sheet, in 1 T. balls (I used a small ice cream scooper). You should have about 30 buns.
- Brush the tops of the buns with whisked egg and sprinkle with sesame seeds.
- Bake for 15-20 minutes, until golden brown and slightly puffed.
- Remove from oven and transfer to a baking rack, to cool.
- Slice in half and serve with "slider" patties and toppings.




My modifications....

1) I didn't have any vingear or baking soda, so I didn't include those. And I forgot the toppings instruction
2) I used 1/2 cup of melted coconut oil instead of ghee
3) Right after mixing everything up, in the correct order, my batter resembled more like pancake batter, so that's what my 'balls' looked like on the wax paper; big pancakes. Which worked out great, as you can see in the picture above. I had some leftover and had to cook in shifts, and I found the batter that sat resting on the counter for 20 minutes was much thicker than when I first mixed it up. So if you want to form the 'buns' ball form that Jen did, let your batter sit for a bit.

So how did it taste? It was amazing, and guilt free! I plan to try this with almond flour/meal next.

And yes, that is mayo on my burger. Don't judge :)

Also in the picture is Every Day Paleo's Purple Cabbage Slaw.

Look Mom, one hand!

I know, call me crazy (or stupid). 30 hours after almost losing my thumb, I was back in the gym. In my defense, the first 12 hours sucked with pain but when I woke up yesterday morning, I had virtually no pain. Also in my defense, I chose to attend the 530pm class, which is taught by CJ, so that I can ask his personal permission to work out, out of respect. (CJ Martin is the owner of Crossfit Invictus and is a genius)

The WOD involved heavy deadlifts and tall box jumps as the strength component, and pull ups, kb swings and running as the MetCon component. CJ showed me how to modify the first part as a one handed, one legged KB dead lift. Basically, I was balancing myself with my injured left hand on a rack and of course would use my right hand to lift the 53# Kettlebell. I started with standing straight up, then I would bring my hips back and as I squatted down to grab the kettlebell, my right leg would go straight back and up in the air so that I felt my left hamstring engage. Hence, why it was one legged as well as one handed. For the MetCon, we subbed out 20" box jumps for the pull ups, and I did all of my kettlebell swings as one handed.

The result? I learned that I can do 25 unbroken kettlebell swings with only one handed at 1 pood weight in all 3 rounds - heck yeah. As for today....such a weird feeling! My left butt cheek is soooooooooooooooooooo sore and my right leg is just fine so when I'm walking, it feels really weird and off-balanced. One legged/one handed KB deadlifts are now one of my favorite things, as I am pretty aware now that this is one helluva strengthing movement for the glutes.



No more hitchhiking for me until this baby heals :(

You can't have goals without obstacles.....

....or atleast, it seems like I can't. Just when I was finally getting rid of my below the knee injuries and getting back into full-blown motivation mode, I decided to go and try to cut my thumb off. Well, it didn't exactly happen that way but close enough.

I did not get to attend SoCal regionals this past weekend as I was instead in Springfield, IL for my best friend, Debra's, wedding. But of course, as everyone at the wedding will attest to, I was glued to my phone the whole weekend. Before leaving town, I modified my twitter settings to get a text message of whatever the SoCal regionals twitter account was tweeting about. So between a million text messages from them plus friends who were actually there giving me live updates, I knew how awesome Crossfit Invictus was doing as soon as they were doing it. My Crossfit brother, Craig, was attending the Regionals up in the North East so we were swapping updates as well.

All of this, of course, left me super motivated, just as anyone who watched Regionals or participated in them would be. After indulging in wine and wedding cake on Saturday and taking Friday-Sunday off from Crossfit, I jumped right back onto the paleo eatting train on Sunday and planned to hit Crossfit at lunch today (Monday).

Alas, there is no rest for the clumsy. As I was cutting into a spaghetti squash this morning, I actually reminded myself to slow down, take it easy so I don't nick a finger. So I did. Which had the total opposite effect. I don't know exactly what happened, it happened so fast, but the knife slipped and sliced up the outside of my left thumb. I saw bone right away, grabbed a towel as blood came, literally, pouring out and realized that in the 2 months that I've lived here, I never once took the time to find out where the nearest ER was.

Long story short, I called my scientist roommate, he told me how to quickly wrap it, I went to the urgent care by my house, which then rewrapped it and directed me to an ER, where I sat for almost 2 hours, crying in pain and frustration until it was finally determined that I am one lucky son of a gun who somehow, by the grace of God, missed my tendon and I will eventually be just fine. Seriously, I almost lost the use of my thumb.

11 stitches and a vicodin prescription later, here I am. I won't post any gore pictures on here but if you are interested in seeing the damage, check out my tumblr: http://supervixen13.tumblr.com/

The stitches should come out in 7-10 days, which if you think about it, is not a long time at all. Just a week, really. But that means I'm very limited in what I can, exercise-wise, for this week. Which pisses me off, especially since I'm all back to being super motivated. I emailed my coach, CJ, to see what he recommends in terms of modification. Fingers crossed I can still participate, as I love my CF Invictus crew and will hate to be away from the gym for 2 weeks.



On a sidenote - it is extremely helpful to have a scientist as a roommate. Granted, he's not a doctor or even a paramedic/EMT, but he had a whole stock of medical supplies already in our bathroom and he knew how to undress and redress my wound. I'm already starting a list of other things he can do for me around the house while I'm "injured".

One round at a time.....

I found out late Thursday night that we would be doing "Murph" on Saturday at Crossfit Invictus, so after such a wonderful but exhausting week in Austin and my first ever attempt at "Murph" on deck, I decided to take Friday as a rest day and chill at home for the night. One of the movies I had to watch that night was the new "Hubble 3D" documentary; little did I know that this short film would be a source of inspiration and motivation for the weekend.

Let me explain. The baseline for the documentary follows one of the last crews that had to visit the Hubble in order to do repairs before the every day wear and tear became too much to cease function. Since they are were up there, they had some upgrades to install as well. Of course, I don't have to tell you that any of this was not an easy task and some of the documentary consisted of the interviews that they did with the astronaunts, describing afterwards what they had to do and the dangers they faced while this or that.

The way one of the astronaunts described a task really stuck with me, and it was just a great coincidence that I watched this the day before doing Murph. The astronaunt had to replace two mirrors within the Hubble, and in order to do this, he had to oh so carefully remove 20 tiny screws in an almost impossible way. When asked how he handled the stress of such a difficult task, he stated that he looked at each screw as it's own separate task and concentrated on just one screw at a time. As he was unscrewing the tiny pieces of metal, he wasn't thinking to himself how many he had done or how many he had left to do; he just conquered one screw at a time.

Going into Murph on Saturday, I had the same mentality and same line of thought when facing this monster workout. I had already decided that I was going to partition the WOD into Cindy; 20 rounds of 5/10/15 for the pull ups, push ups and squats. So once it was game time, I told myself I was not going to agonize and concentrate on how many rounds I had left throughout the work. After round 5, I wasn't going to think about how I still had 15 rounds left. I had a post-it note on the rack and pen near by and after each round, I did my tick mark on the paper for tracking purposes and then just moved on to the next round. I tried hard to think of each round as an individual task, just something that needed to be done. And when I was done with that one, I was just going to move on to the next, and not agonize over how much work I still had left to do. 5-10-15, done. Tick mark. Breath In, breath out. Repeat.

And for me, it worked. Before I knew it, I was finishing round 15 and still going strong. It's easy to get intimidated and even a little scared right before performing some of Crossfit's work outs; everyone is guilty at sometime or another of overanalyzing and overthinking a WOD, and over planning how they are going to tackle it. Sometimes it's better to just not think about it at all. Turn off your mind and just do it. Don't think, just lift. And sometimes when you do that, you'll find that the work out wasn't as bad as you thought it would be.

Crossfit Central aka PR Central!

After many, many false alarms and cancelled trips, I finally made my way back to Austin, TX on a work assignment. The last time I was out there was in August 2010 and I had the pleasure of dropping into Crossfit Central. Since that trip 10 months ago, I've met a dozen people on twitter who either are affiliated with Crossfit Central or work out in boxes around the Austin area. So needless to say, I was pretty stoked for this trip!

Last week was Crossfit Total at Central, and due to the class size and limited 45 minute duration, we ended up breaking up the movements per day. It had been roughly 6 months since I had done my last Crossfit Total back in December 2010, so I was ready and excited to max out.

On Wednesday 6/1, we started with back squats. Previous 1 RM in December was 185lb and in February, 189lb. With much joy, I was able to bust out a 200lb back squat for my 1 RM! It felt pretty good too and I am pretty sure if I had time for one more rep, I could have tried for 205-210. Nevertheless, I was ecstatic to finally be part of the 200lb back squat club!

Side of humor: During warm ups, Coach Big Mike introduced me to the class by saying, "Everyone say hi to Jaimie, she is visiting us from Crossfit Invictus; they are kind of a big deal...." Funny, as that is what CJ and I said about Crossfit Central as well.

Me & Holly before our back squat attempts:



With such great results on Wednesday, I decided to drop in the next day so that I could test out my Deadlift. Previous Deadlift 1RM back in December was a disappointing 215lbs, so this time around I was only expecting to maybe get to 225-230lb, if I was lucky.

Coach Jefe was also my coach the day before, so when he saw me warming up my deadlifts, he pulled me aside and asked me what the previous 1RM was. I told him it was 6 months ago at 215lbs and since he saw my back squat the day before, he instantly made me throw alot of weight on the bar and start my first of the 1-1-1 reps at my previous max. The 215lb was easy peesey and I started getting that mixed feeling of excitement but nervousness of the unknown, like I knew something great was about to happen.

With the amazing motivation and instruction from both Coach Jefe and Coach Zach, my rep/weight set ended up being 1-1-1-1, 215-235-245-255. Yep, that's right - I ended with a 255lb deadlift. It was one of the most amazing feelings of accomplishment I've had during Crossfit, ever.

I didn't get a chance to test out my shoulder press (previous in Dec 10 was 95lbs) but my two new PRs were satisifying enough. My next goals, of course, would be a 225lb back squat and a 300lb deadlift. I know that if I work hard and keep at it, I'll see those goals met before I know it.

And, of course, to top off a fantastic week, I finally got to meet Diego! I usually shoot the shit with Diego on twitter on an almost daily basis, he's an awesome member of the SICFit crew and a fellow Progenex rep. I can't wait to party with his crew at the Games in July.

Finding new motivation.....part 1.

It has been a week since my last blog post and I feel like so many positive things have happened! So here is a quick recap.

A few Saturdays ago, Sage Burgener (who is an OLY coach at Crossfit Invictus) put on an OLY Meet at our box; it was open to all athletes who wanted to sign up. I really haven't done any snatch technique practice since the Windy City OLY Meet over 6 months ago, so I decided instead to just volunteer to help out Sage and Jen. I know, such a cop out. It was a relatively small meet but it packed a big punch with some amazing females lifting some amazing weight. You want some motivation? Watch a 19 year old who weights 116lb cleaning and jerking 150% her body weight. It was amazing.

Although being surrounded by awesome guys and gals pick up heavy weight all day was a cherry all in it's own, I will say that the highlight of my day was meeting Kris Clever. I was pleasantly surprised when she walked in the door before the meet; I didn't realize how close Valley Crossfit was to San Diego plus I figured she would be resting before any Games competition. Not only did I get to watch her lift, I also got to shoot the shit with her afterwards as we discussed the aforementioned amazing 19 year old who's name I can't remember to save my life. Even Kris found her motivating.

This past weekend also marked 2 weeks since I started my meal planning and nutritonal discussions with Coach George, and it was time to take some new measurements and pinching. Pinching hurts, by the way. I didn't think my jeans felt any looser but atleast they weren't feeling any tighter, so I wasn't all that optimistic going into the measuring session. He took some quick measurements and then, as if he was a doctor running tests, he told he would let me know how it went.

Later that night, I got this email from him:

"So you're weight didn't change, but your measurements did...4 out of 8 sites were significantly lower, to include the umbilical and supra-illiac (right about your hip). Your umbilical site went from 34.4 to 28.2!"

I don't know exactly what he was measuring as I know he didn't mean my waist is now at 28 inches but either way, it was motivating to see that my work is paying off.

Back to the recording board....

I'm nearing the end of Week 2 and I still do not have my daily diet tweaked for ultimate J-Performance. I'm getting in tons of protein and good carbs via veggies and the necessary fat but I just burn through food too fast sometimes. So my goal now is to find out what foods keep me the fullest, the longest and which foods give me the most energy. Unfortunately the only way to do this is to keep a 'food diary' of sorts; write down what I eat, when I eat, and record how I feel in terms of energy and hunger. Blah. This is not my favorite thing to do but oh well.

Today's Meal Plan:

Rest Day
Meal 1: Baked Bennes by Coach Michele
Meal 2: Leftover Lamb and Asparagus from last night
Meal 3: Ribeye Steak, Roasted Carrots and Salad



Meal 1's Baked Bennes were very tasty & filling, with endless possibilities. Just a caution: they come out of the oven very hot! I had to cut them up into bite size bits and let them cool for a bit before I could start eating. The link to the original recipe is above, but here is what I modified:

Ingredients:
2 Large Portabella Mushroom
2 eggs per Mushroom
S & P and Paprika

Directions:
Place mushroom bottoms up on a baking sheet. Crack egg and place inside mushroom cap. Sprinkle with seasoning. Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes depending on how done you like the yolk. The white will be done in about 20 minutes and the yolk still runny. By 30 minutes, the yolk will be cooked all the way through. You can be fancy and cut them with a fork and knife but I just picked them up and munched away.

**After 20 minutes, I turned the oven to broil for 5 minutes. Then I topped with salsa after removing from the oven.



I probably would have been satisified with just 1 large mushroom and 2-3 eggs on it, as I didn't realize how filling this really was.



Last night's Lamb recipe was very tasty as well; however, this rack cost me almost $20 from Whole Foods so I don't foresee myself eating this every week. :) But if you'd like a nice treat or have access to inexpensive quality Lamb, I'd suggest you try this out. Coach George also has used this recipe for Pork Chops, a cheaper alternative.



Ingredients:
½ cup crushed almonds (or walnuts)
2 tablespoons minced garlic
2 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary
*1 teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon black pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil

1 (7 bone) rack of lamb
*1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
2 tablespoons coconut oil
*1 tablespoon mustard

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.
2. In a large bowl, combine crushed nuts, garlic, rosemary, 1 teaspoon salt, ¼ teaspoon pepper, and 2 tablespoons olive oil.
3. Season your rack (of lamb) with salt and pepper. Heat coconut oil in a large heavy skillet (cast iron works best) over high heat. Sear rack for 1 to 2 minutes on all sides. Set aside for a few minutes. Brush rack with mustard and rub almond crumb mixture all over.
4. Arrange the rack bone side down in the skillet. Roast the lamb in the oven for 12 to 18 minutes. 12 minutes will give you a more rare rack, 18 for more well done. If you’re cooking two racks, this time will go up to 18 to 25 minutes.
5. Cover it with tin foil and let it rest for 5 to 7 minutes.

Row, row, row my boat.....

Invictus Fitness is proud to announce the opening of our latest club, the Invictus Rowing Club. And I'm proud to announce that I joined it :) I've been working really hard on trying to increase my endurance and lose some weight so I figured rowing is one of the best ways to do this. Plus, clubs are fun, especially Crossfit clubs! This little tidbit from Coach Shane made the decision to join that much easier: "All club members who successfully complete 3 months of the Rowing Club will get the chance to go on the water and enjoy an outing on Mission Bay; San Diego’s epicenter for rowing."

Hellz. Yeah.

Row Club Baseline, 5/24/2011

Distance: 5000m
Time: 23:29
Split: 2:20
Stroke: 27

I will say it's much easier to run a 5K than row a 5K, even if it's less time. I still loved it though and learned so much. And of course, the group WOD today was rowing. :)

Teams of 2-3:

4 RFT
-400m Row
-400m Run

23:09 for both me and Amanda finishing.

Well, I wanted more cardio to help my endurance and lose weight and now I’m getting it. Tomorrow’s a rest day.

Today's Meal Plan:

0600: Coffee
0700: Crossfit
0815: Progenex Chocolate More Muscle, Unsweetened Almond Milk, Banana Extract, Chia Seeds, Ice, blended
1115: 5oz of turkey sausage w/ salsa and sauteed spinach and a few walnuts
1215: Coffee
1430: Leftover Pulled Pork (Spiced w/ Garlic, Mustard and Curry) & Cauliflower Rice
1745: Rack of Lamb w/ Asparagus

For the Rack of Lamb recipe, here's the blog from my Crossfit and Nutrition Coach, George: Rack of Lamb. Any leftovers will be my lunch tomorrow. Also by Coach George is this Pulled Pork recipe, I used 1lb and a crockpot: Pulled Pork. Super yummy and well, less expensive than the Rack of Lamb. :)

Survey says.....

As you can tell by my recent blog subjects, my biggest focus right now is my nutritional intake. I am currently signed up to have six 30 minute sessions with Coach George (Crossfit Invictus) over the course of 4-6 weeks to go over nutrition and meal plans to suit my body type so that I can lose weight and become more fit.

During our first session last week, Coach George had me fill out a survey/questionnaire so that we could determine by Metabolic Type. The survey contained all sorts of questions, ranging from my overall body shape to when I feel the most hungry during the day to um....other sensitive areas. :)

The results? My likely metabolic type is Autonomic Parasympathetic, my Oxidative is Fast and my Endocrine is Adrenal.

Say what?! Yeah, try googling "Autonomic Parasympathetic" and you still won't get a clear answer.

Thankfully, Coach George gave me a handout of all the information I need, which I believe he got from this website.

Metabolic Typing: The ANS, or Autonomic Nervous System, referred to as the master regulator of metabolism, has two divisions: the Sympathetic and the Parasympathetic. Each works in opposition to the other, yet they work together to maintain homeostasis ( metabolic balance and efficiency ). Some people have inherited stronger organs and glands that are stimulated by the Sympathetic division. These are known as the Sympathetic Dominant Metabolic Types®. Other people have inherited greater strength overall in the Parasympathetic organs and glands and are thus known as Parasympathetic Dominant Metabolic Types®.

I am apparently the latter, "Parasympathetic Dominant Metabolic Type".

So what's a Fast Oxidizer? While it might be said that the ANS is concerned with maintenance and regulation of energy, the Oxidative System concerns the rate at which nutrients are converted to energy within all of your body's 100 trillion cells. Fast Oxidizers tend to burn carbohydrates too quickly and thus they produce excess Oxaloacetate. A high carbohydrate diet only worsens the problem, but increased amounts of fats and proteins helps balance their chemistries and normalize their energy production.

Well, this explains why I'm always hungry, even if I eat a big meal. Here is what else I found:

"Rate of cellular oxidation. This refers to the rate at which cells convert food into energy. Some people are fast oxidizers, because they rapidly convert food into energy. In order to balance their systems, fast oxidizers need to eat heavier proteins and fats to that burn slowly. In contrast, slow oxidizers convert food into energy at a slow rate. In order to balance their systems, it's recommended that they eat mainly carbohydrates rather than protein and fat."

After reading the dietary suggestions for a Fast Oxidizer, I am sad to see it is recommended that I eat apples instead of bananas. Oh well :(

For my Endorcrine type of Adrenal, I should do the opposite of what I have been doing; I should stick to lighter breakfast and lunch meals and eat the heaviest meal at night. Which, if you know me, makes sense since my hunger doesn't usually kick in until afternoon anyways. I should also restrict butter, high fat cheese, red meat, salt and salty foods and shellfish. Not too difficult, since I don't eat half of that stuff anyways.

So the plan for me? Basically a balanced paleo diet with a limit on fruits; fruits should not be fully ripened as they are too high in sugar for "Protein Types" (which is what I am). The goal is to keep food in my stomach longer, to slow down my oxidizer rate and keep me fuller longer.

It was also determined that I don't have enough probiotics in my diet so my daily snack has consisted of a small serving of plain greek yogurt, mixed with raspberries. We are also incorporating a cheat day each week on the weekends, either Saturday or Sunday; I was hestiant at first because cheat days scare me but so far, it seems that having one cheat day a week (which, for me, mainly consists of a burger, beer and some sugar versus a more grain-driven cheat day of pasta, rice, tons of bread, etc) actually quiets my sugar demon within, and I can get through the rest of the week without being overcome by cravings.

So far, so good. We took measurements last week (can you say, nightmare! Ugh, I was so ashamed) and we plan on taking measurements again at the end of this week; I can't wait to see the results.

As an ending note - just wanted to say Happy Birthday to one of my favorite salsa cuban chicas, Esther! One of my partners in crime during WODs Gone Crazy, this girl never ceases to crack me up with her random texts and I'm so happy for this recent newly wed!



We are drunk in this picture - don't hold it against us :)

Week 2's Meal Plan

Don't you just hate when life gets in the way? My plan last week was to blog every day with my proposed meal plan and a report on how well I'm stickin to it. Somehow I fell off the blog after last Wednesday but I can report that I've been pretty much sticking to the meal plan and can tell my stomach is already flatter and my jeans are fitting just a bit looser.

Here's this week's plan. If I have time, I'll post recipes and pictures throughout the week.

TUESDAY

M1: Smoked Salmon (Sugar Free) w/ Capers, Sliced Tomatoes and Sauteed Spinach
M2: Pulled Pork with Cabbage and Cauliflower Rice
M3: Rotisserie Chicken and Big Salad

WEDNESDAY

M1: Leftovers from M3 the previous night
M2: Leftovers from M2 the previous day
M3: Lamb and Veggies

THURSDAY

M1: Breakfast Sausage w/ Salsa and Sauteed Spinach
M2: Leftovers from M3 the previous night
M3: Grassfed Ribeye and Veggies

FRIDAY

M1: Eggs, Salsa and Sauteed Veggies
M2: Sardines and Salad
M3: Out to dinner - meat and veggies

As for snacks, as needed: carrots, celery, and deviled eggs. Coach George, after reviewing my survey results, has prescribed me to take Greek Yogurt each day for the probiotics, even though it's not paleo.

Something's awfully fishy about today......

So I ended my first day yesterday of official Coach George "Meal Planning" successfully; I did not deviate from our meal plans at all. Not going to lie though; although dinner was filling (Salmon & Collard Greens), I was craving a dessert afterwards. But, I did not deviate.

Today's breakfast and lunch both have me trying new foods and thus far, I've been pretty happy! George apparently knows what he's talking about....

Breakfast:

Smoked Salmon, Sliced Tomato and Sauteed Spinach



I was very happy with my breakfast; very little prep, especially after my Crossfit class and it was so damn yummy.

Lunch was a salad consisting of leafy greens, green bell pepper, tomato chunks and cucumbers.....plus sardines. (*insert screwed up face here*) I honestly never tried these before and I'm a big seafood fan but fish in a can? Well, I dumped a can of these bad boys in my salad with some EVOO and balsamic and shook it like a polarid picture. You could hardly taste the fish; it was very mild and pretty good.

Tonight's dinner is more turf than surf; grilled flank steak with grilled eggplant and kale. Not going to lie, I'm pretty excited :)

On on to Day 2 of a healthier, fitter me. :)

Taking charge of my meals....Day 1!

I'm not a prideful person, and I've accepted the fact that every now and then, everyone needs a little help. Last Fall, my diet was right on point and I was able to lose pounds and inches but still make strength gains. I got down to 150.5lbs in order to make a specific weight class for a local OLY Meet in Chicago and was pretty happy. This was mid-December; shortly after that, I fell off the wagon.

Or should I say, I took a big nose dive off the damn thing. The holidays hit, a bad break ensued and well, my team went to the Superbowl, baby! So December and January were a big huge ol' months of faileos, left and right, and I got back up to the mid-160s. And lets be real folks, it was not all muscle. :)

I've been fighting with myself for the past few months, on and off paleo as much as my self discipline would allow. In the end, I know what to eat and what not to eat but I feel like I eat too much of a good thing. (*cough* Almond Butter *cough*) And alas, the weight is not really coming off.

So I decided to take advantage of the awesome coaching at Crossfit Invictus and signed up to talk with someone about nutrition and meal planning. I had my first meeting with Coach George yesterday to go over my goals, what has worked and hasn't worked in the past, and to take measurements. Which was motivating all on its own; there's nothing like someone taking measurements of areas you are ashamed of to kick your ass into gear.

In the end, we came up with a meal plan for this week; a beautifully organized excel spreadsheet listing out what I'll eat for breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks for each day this week. The meals vary every day, other than leftovers, to give me variety and it is all paleo. After I fill out a questionaire and we dig deeper into how my body reacts to certain foods, we will end up tweaking the plan to be more specific to my needs and goals.



For today, my breakfast consisted of a yummy egg fritatta with spinach, asapargus, sundried tomatos, bacon and olives. Lunch will consist of leftover paleo chili that I had for dinner last night (recipe: http://crossfittravels.blogspot.com/2011/02/chili-for-when-its-chilly.html) and dinner will consist of Broiled Salmon with steamed broccoli and collard greens.

I'll try to post every day this week what my meal plan is and how it's going for those interested in some new paleo recipes and ideas.

DL for time!

Think about your most hated, dreaded WOD. We all have them. Most will say Fran or Murph. We all have our goats, our weaknesses.

Well, I have a new most hated, dreaded WOD that is now in the #1 spot on my list; I call it the 'Forced Rest by Injury WOD'.

I guess I can consider myself somewhat lucky; I have been Crossfitting now for about a year at 4-6x a week and I have yet to injure myself during a WOD. (I don't count sore muscles or torn hands) And an injury of any kind has been pretty much #1 on my most feared list, as it would drive me crazy if I was not able to Crossfit or even go for a run for an extended period of time.

Le sigh. Enter stage left: A dropped empty 35# barbell on my left foot.

So I was in the middle of a chipper yesterday at Mile High Crossfit; very nice box, awesome friendly group and I even stayed 30 minutes after class to shoot the shit with the owners. Anyways, back to my story. So I'm in the middle of this chipper and if you read my blog a day or two ago, you'll know that my hands are pretty tore up right now from kipping pull ups on Tuesday. So my grip -- not so good. As I was finishing up some good mornings in the middle of this chipper (40 to be exact), I popped the empty bar off my back, into an overhead, and then went to bring the bar down in front of me to gentlely, nicely set on the ground. Momma doesn't drop empty bars, if you know what I'm sayin. :)

Well, my hands had something else in mind and as the bar lowered past my eye level, my hands literally gave out and boom! Dropped the damn empty bar on my ankles, which rolled onto the top of my left foot. Both coaches/owners immediately ran over to see if I was ok and of course, right away I say yes, because lets be honest; the most pain was first felt in my pride. I could not believe that I dropped a damn bar.

Anyways, I stood there and walked a bit on it for a few minutes, and the pain subsided. I decided to finish the chipper, which had some DUs and that was about it in terms of using my legs and feet. (The rest were sit ups, wall balls, slam balls, and rope climbs). Mistake #1 - I shouldn't have continued, even if the pain did subside, just because the inital pain was horrible.



Later on that night, I went about my business with little to no pain so I thought I had dodged a bullet. When I went to bed at 10pm, I set my alarm for 5am because I was super duper excited for my 6am Olympic Lifting class at Method Crossfit the next morning. Mistake #2 - I should have iced my foot and took a pain killer anyways.

Two hours later, around midnight, I'm awoken by horrific foot pain. I tried to get out of bed and found that I couldn't even walk or put pressure on my left foot - what. the. eff??!!! As I start to tear up from frustration, I hobbled to get some Advil and a frozen water bottle I just happened to have and crawled into bed assuming the worse. Obviously I was going to get more sleep in the morning since OLY Lifting was out of the question. (I'm STILL pissed about missing that class)

This blog was actually written yesterday but stupid blogspot was down. As of yesterday and today, my foot is much better and I no longer have a limp, just minimal pain. Looks like in the end, I did dodge a bullet. Phew!

But, just to be smart and safe, blah blah blah, I'll continue with the rest days and start back up on Monday :)

Getting High off High Altitude at Crossfit Arsenal

Yep, I'm at it again....all of this travel bullshit I call life...I mean, work! :)

This week I have the honor of being in Denver, CO to, pretty much, become even more nerdy then I already am. I'm taking a Cisco UCCE/CVP Bootcamp. (Say what?) Basically, I'm sitting in front of a computer in a classroom all day, every day, for five days, listening to a guy tell me how this and that works. BORING.

So how am I spicing up my long....boring....days? Getting my ass kicked by high altitude Crossfitting, that's how!

First off, I would like to say that I sent emails to three boxes outside of Denver last week, requesting permission to drop in to their boxes. Yeah, I'm polite like that. All three boxes promptly sent me back very friendly, very welcoming emails. To quote, "Please come to as many classes as you'd like." & "My drop in policy is come in and play!". Sweet.

I dropped into Crossfit Arsenal's 530pm class tonight and I was greeted by a friendly bunch. (Box #45, State #14 or something)



The workout:

10,9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1 reps for time of:
Thrusters
Sumo-deadlift high pulls
Pull ups

The weight is Fran weight, if you can RX that. This was a big night for me for two reasons; this was the first WOD that I was going to attempt unassisted kipping pull ups for the whole thing. I saw this WOD posted this morning on the website, and sat daydreaming about RXing this bitch all day long instead of paying attention in class.

The second reason, which I extremely underestimated, was that this was my first high altitude WOD. Yeah, I've been to a bunch of Crossfits but none were ever high altitude.

The result? I did the WOD, completely RX, in 21:06. I had every pull up down and I can say that I felt strong and awesome doing every one. It has taken me a year to get here and I couldn't be happier.

But um...yeah...did you see that time?!? 21:06?! Breathing felt useless the whole time; I felt like my lungs had holes in them. I was sucking in air as fast as I could but it wasn't 'sticking' and my heart was beating so effing fast. Half way through, Coach David had to show me a breathing technique to help try to slow my heart rate. My muscles weren't tired at all during the WOD, so not being able to breathe for 20 minutes was very frustrating, yet humbling. It will be interesting to see how the rest of this week goes!

And on an ending note....those pull ups came with a dear, dear price; I tore my hands in three spots and decided to try liquid bandage for the first time. Have you ever tried it? If not, I'm not going to spoil the ending of this suspenseful flick for you -- just let me know after you've tried it. ;)

Back to (Paleo) Life....Back to (Paleo) Reality.....

Here I am! Sunny Southern California. I've been here for 9 days now and it has been pretty crazy; I've had over a dozen friends visit me, I've aquired six new Crossfit/WO shirts and um.....I don't know how many pounds. I'll let you know later. :-/

Anywho....I'll blog about my awesome WODs Gone Crazy weekend later tonight, which was a total total blast! (Miss you cats already!) But now it's time to get back to getting serious.

Today starts back at 100% Paleo. I figured, I don't really know anyone here yet so it can't be too hard to resist going out drinking or eating badly. Plus, I now belong to the kick ass box Crossfit Invictus, which will make it easier for me to kick my work outs up a notch. I figured, awesome programming by the master CJ Martin plus a few 5ks weekly in my hilly SoCal hood and I'll be good to go!

Plus....motivation from my Chicago chica, who I already miss dearly...Ms Kelsey :) Check out her new blog!! http://kelseystrainingblog.blogspot.com/

Goals - my undoing?

Le Sigh. It seems to happen every time. I can tell myself that I'm going to be strict paleo for the next xxx number of days, or stop doing this or stop eating that. But the minute numbers come into play, in terms of my 'goals'....well, I go a bit mental.

Lately I've been pretty strict during the weekdays, more relaxed on the weekends. And it hasn't caused me much thought or stress. But then today, I made the declaration on twitter that I wanted to lose an inch off each thigh. Well, I want to lose multiple inches off my thighs....and my hips and my waist, etc etc, but I wondered how long it would take to lose an inch off each thigh.

So of course, I started thinking about my diet, about my Crossfit regime and about adding in running. And then I thought about my diet some more. I've been losing a few pounds and a half an inch here and there each week so I figured I was doing good and didn't really need to change much. You know, just a few more strict tweaks here and there.

Then this afternoon hit. The afternoons are the worst for me. I usually get up early and do Crossfit in the a.m. I hate WODing with food in my stomach so I usually work out without breakfast, and then my post WOD shake or meal is my first meal of the day. Of course, I'm starving when I'm done with Crossfit but usually my chicken & veggies or my Progenex is enough to keep me full until lunch time. But sometimes it seems no matter what I eat for Meal 1 and Meal 2....the afternoons are met with famish hunger, as if I hadn't eatten at all.

Normally, I try to do 3 on, 1 off in terms of Crossfit and running but today was Day 4 on for me and I pushed pretty hard this morning. So of course, after making these new goals today....dropping inches here, dropping pounds there....with the desire of doing it in the next week or two....when the afternoon famine hunger hit, I started to panic. Of course, I've been eating when hungry and not depriving myself. I've tried protein, I've tried healthy fats. Nothing is keeping me full today.

Enter - distress! Panic! Oh no, how do I plan to lose inches when I can't stop eating?????

I think really the question I need to ask myself is, how do I plan to lose inches when I can't stop stressing????

WODs Gone Crazy in 2 Weeks!!!

Happy Friday!! Not only does today rock because it's Friday and I'm alive and healthy, but because it's also the official 2 week countdown to WODs Gone Crazy!!




What is WODs Gone Crazy? At the end of 2010, I was running my mouth on twitter as I always do, and I said something to my buddy Travis Schefcik (@uncmnwellness) about visiting him one day soon in SoCal to throw down some WODs together. From there, people started chiming in that they wanted to as well, and a big tweet up was born!

Thanks to Jarret Streiner (@jarret23), we started organizing who was going to attend and what dates would work best for everyone, since the group consists of people from coast to coast, north to south. He started this awesome blog and got the ball rolling! (Link to awesome blog)

The official plan!

Thursday 4/28 PM WOD at Crossfit East County with Mr. FuncThat himself! (@FuncThat)

Friday 4/29 is a triple whammy day! We are starting the morning off at Crossfit Counter Culture at 8am.....possibily the last Games Sectionals WOD, maybe? And of course, since this is the headquarters of the awesome brand Life As RX, I'm sure there will be a lot of post WOD shoppin goin on!

Our 2nd WOD of the day will be thrown down at the awesome facilities of Crossfit Invictus. Many thanks to both of these places for graciously hosting us!

For our last WOD of the day, we have been toying around with the idea of a ladies vs guys beach WOD.....should be interesting!

Between the nine of us, I'm sure lots of video and photos will be captured during this wild weekend. Stay tuned for blog posts and tweets before, during and after the craziness that will be WODs Gone Crazy.



Not only have we secured kick ass venues to show off our Crossfit skills, but we've also picked up some sponsors along the way! Many thanks to Progenex, Fashletics and RxJumpRopes for their support in making this Coast to Coast Crossfit TweetUp an experience any Crossfitter would enjoy.

Also a huge thanks to Life As RX for designing special shirts just for this trip.

Progenex Recovery and More Muscle

I was making protein shakes part of my daily diet before I even started Crossfit. However, I made the common mistake of just going with what everyone else was taking or whatever was commercially recommended; usually Muscle Milk. I really didn’t know what I was taking or why I was taking it (other than the ‘protein’ aspect). I didn’t even know how to correctly pronounce ‘whey’.

When I started Crossfit, I also started down the path of the Paleo diet, and I started examining more closely what I was putting into my body. A buddy of mine who could be described as one of the ‘firebreathers’ of Crossfit recommended Beverly protein powder, so for a while, that’s what I used. Then I embarked on a Whole 30 challenge, and gave up protein powder all together.

I’m a huge believer in eating real whole foods post WOD, even when I’m on a work trip, so even when I’m not doing Whole 30, I wasn’t adding protein shakes back into my diet. Another buddy of mine, Diego Centeno, convinced me to give Progenex a try. Progenex has two kinds of protein powder; Recovery for immediate post WOD and More Muscle for a mid-day shake. (Although I’m told you can really take either of them whenever). As of today, Progenex Recovery comes in a full canister or in a 10 individual pack, so I decided to give it a 2 week try and ordered the 10 pack.

Of course, in true Jaimie fashion, I tweeted about my new experiment and lots of people have been asking me my opinion and experience on Progenex. So here’s my opinion :)

Taste: Belgian Chocolate – yum! Normally I like to mix my shakes with whey powder, unsweetened almond milk, frozen banana and instant espresso powder, so even some of the not-so-tasty powders out there aren’t so bad in the end. But for the purpose of this review, I made a shake with just Progenex recovery, water and ice. And it was still tasty! I do recommend, however, that if you don’t have a special shaker (which I don’t), use a blender if you want it mixed well.

Digestion: Progenex Recovery was pretty easy on my stomach; however, my stomach is like an iron case for pretty much all foods so I don’t know if I’m the best subject for this experiment. I started back on paleo and the first couple of servings of Progenex, I noticed minor gas a few hours later. At first I thought it might have been the protein powder but I noticed it even on the two straight days that I didn’t have a shake. Thank you, paleo. I blame this one on you.

During Workout Recovery: I am really bad at gauging this factor, as I believe there are many factors that can play into this; how much sleep did I get the night before, what I ate the days leading up to the work out, what is my overall mental mood, etc. And since I normally WOD in the a.m. and don’t drink shakes before that, I really don’t know if I’m the best person to give my opinion on this.

Post Workout Recovery: This is where I noticed the biggest gain. My diet is usually pretty clean, I take my daily fish oil, and I like to do a nice warm up/cool down/roll out every time I work out, so I don’t normally get sore from my Crossfit WODs, whether it’s a strength or a MetCon. However, as lots of people have asked me about this, I’ve started pushing even harder and heavier on some of my work outs, or going for 2 – a –days (Crossfit in the a.m., running or ballet in the p.m.) to see if I could make myself sore. Impressively, it took a lot to make my muscles sore.



Sooooo…..long story short; did I like Progenex? Will I continue to use it? Hell yeah. When my 10 pack of Recovery ran out, I bought a big bag of More Muscle. I’ve had some folks on twitter message me and say that yes, Progenex does have a superior blend of protein, but you can buy a lesser known name of the same blend for cheaper. This may be true, but I can say that the customer service I get from Progenex is well worth what I pay for their superior blend.

My only suggestions to Progenex is my wish that they would make all of their products available in the 10 individual pack orders, which would make it a lot easier for when I travel. (Which, for me, is all of the time). Also, drinking the same ol’ shake every day could get old. If they were to make More Muscle in a Vanilla flavor, I’d be a happy camper! I’ve recently experimented with adding a few drops of different flavored extracts (ie…mint, cinnamon, etc) to my shakes to change up the flavor, which would be easier with a Vanilla flavored powder.

Fighting sickness with soup!

As a Crossfit'er, my number one fear is injury; anything that could permanently prohibit me from doing some to all of Crossfit would just really really suck. I wouldn't say that I have a 'fear' of getting sick but getting sick when you Crossfit is a real pain in the ass. And as any stubborn Crossfit'er would do, instead of going to the grocery store this morning to stock up on soup and medicine, I was found at my box, sweating away to the daily WOD. Which left me with no soup.

Thankfully, I had a whole stock of healthy foods already in my kitchen and I was able to throw together this Chicken and Veggie Paleo soup on the fly, all from leftovers.

- Purple Cauliflower
- Tomato
- Spinach
- Mushrooms
- Red Bell Pepper

Sauteed up in a pan while I baked two large chicken breasts.

After the veggies are sauteed and the chicken cooked and diced, throw everything into a pot, mix well, and add as much chicken broth as you desire. Season with pepper, garlic powder and thyme and then cook on medium heat until a boil for about 15-20 minutes.

Turned out great and one less thing to worry about when I'm sick.